Picture Perfect
by SenseiGrace
Summary: Sebastian Smythe was the son of a famous lawyer, so he was familiar with the press. But more importantly, how to be picture perfect. (AU.) (NOW A TWO-SHOT!) (TWs inside.)
1. Picture Perfect

**Hey guys!**

 **Okay, I will begin by saying that the hours ago, I didn't even have this idea. I will also say that I rarely write one-shots, so this is a rarity.**

 **TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR DOMESTIC ABUSE!**

 **So, I hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

 _Picture Perfect._

Sebastian remembered it as the most important lesson he had ever learned. It was that what happened behind the closed doors of the Smythe household stayed inside the closed doors.

"But, mommy." He remembered saying as his mother adjusted his tie. "What does that even mean?"

His mother continued to hum as she combed his hair. "It means that the things your daddy says and does to you stay a secret." She told him.

He remembered that it had confused him, but the belt that broke the skin on his back had embedded what the lesson meant into his head. It meant that things like the beatings he got daily stayed a secret. Because his family was picture perfect. And it was to stay that way.

Even with a bruise on his face, he was picture perfect. His mother called it concealer. He called it a secret keeper, a saving grace.

Yes, he hated the way it felt on his skin. The cold goo that did its hardest to cover the secrets of his family life. The press didn't need to know that he wasn't perfect. No, that would never do.

"You missed a spot." He remembered his father telling him as he would point to a bruise that the pale concealer didn't fully cover. "Don't give the public a reason to think. You must be picture perfect."

He spent five thousand dollars on concealer.

Relationships stayed a secret too. "Don't give them something to eat up, Sebastian." His mother had told him. "Keep relationships a secret until there is an engagement."

It didn't take long for Sebastian to understand the reason his mother had told him that. After his first abusive relationship, the last thing he wanted was for him to be forced to relive it because of the press. No, he wouldn't just cover the bruises with concealer, and hide his brokenness with a smile. That's what he was supposed to do.

He went to the most prestigious boarding school in all of America. The all boys boarding school with an eight time national winning glee club.

"Stay away from the glee club." His father warned him as they had walked into the building. "You're a lawyer, not a performer."

"Yes, sir." Sebastian had answered.

He broke his word, and joined the Warblers, lead them even. He would never regret it, even with the beating and the hundreds of dollars of hush money that he gave the school nurse. After all, he had to be picture perfect.

Sebastian had fallen in love so many times. But he only wanted one. Santana Lopez.

The feisty daughter of a doctor. She had a temper and tongue to match his, and a love for him that could only be rivaled by his loved for her.

"You don't truly love her." His father had sighed when he asked for his permission to marry her. "You have no idea what true love is."

Sebastian cried himself to sleep the night his father made him break up with her. He just used more concealer the next day.

Sebastian knew that there was no one in the world who would understand him the same way Santana had, but that didn't change his father's mind. No, Santana was not picture perfect.

"You will marry her." His father had panted. He knew that there was only one way to get his son to marry a co-worker's daughter. It was to beat him into submission. So that was what he did.

Sebastian had only nodded through his sobs. He needed someone who was picture perfect. And the love of his life was not.

It was a picture perfect wedding, a picture perfect honeymoon. Everything a Smythe expected, that's what Sebastian and Danielle Smythe got.

But it was only picture perfect on the outside, because on the inside, there was a broken man who was being shattered by an abusive wife.

They were picture perfect children. Elliot and Ava Smythe were the most darling children in the public's eyes. But through their mother they quickly learned the same thing that father had. What happens behind closed doors, stays behind them.

Sebastian tried his best to protect his children, but he wasn't always there in time. He wasn't always fast enough.

"You're safe now." He would soothe as he held them close. "Daddy's here."

He spent ten thousand dollars on concealer for all of them.

He walked out of the court building with his children in his arms. He answered the questions in ways that completely avoided the question. Because they didn't need to know what all his ex-wife had done.

Sebastian was a single father, a lawyer, a victim of abuse, a broken man. But hey, he was picture perfect.

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 **Yeah, I'm not exactly sure what this is. All well. I'm not sure if this is even a one-shot, or if it's a drabble. xD**

 **Please fave and review! I would love to know your thoughts!**

 **Thanks for reading! Love y'all!**


	2. Picture Perfect (In his eyes)

**Hey guys!**

 **I know, I know, Picture Perfect was a one-shot, but my friend aliqueen16 requested this, so.. (And my sister is currently laughing because we both know I can't write one-shots.)**

 **Anyway, Ali, your birthday is on the 22nd, so happy birthday. This is for you.**

 **WARNING! MINOR CHARACTER DEATH AND A MINOR SWEAR WORD!**

 **So, I hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

 _Picture Perfect. (In his eyes.)_

Their lives reconnected outside of the Lima Bean.

"Sebastian?" Santana had asked, surprised at the amount of concealer he and his two toddlers were wearing.

Sebastian looked up at her, then smiled. "Santana, I haven't seen you here in awhile." He told her.

Ava hid behind Sebastian's leg as she held her decaffeinated frappuccino to her chest. "Daddy.." She had whimpered, and Santana knew she would always remember how upset she had been by the innocent two year old's fear of her. What made it worse was she knew the cause.

"Yeah, I went coffee free for awhile." She had said as she watched Sebastian's toddlers sip at their decaffeinated drinks. "You Smythes and your frozen drinks." She joked.

She remembered the way he had laughed uncomfortably, and the way her her heartstrings had been pulled at by the sound. She had once been someone he had been comfortable with, so comfortable that he had confided his deepest secrets in her.

She sighed as her joke went without remark. "We should reconnect." She said. Sebastian was single again, and she was hoping his feelings for her were still there behind his abuse hardened heart.

Sebastian nodded hesitantly. "Y-yeah." He had stuttered and handed her a slip of paper with his phone number on it, then picked up his children and left. Leaving his drink behind.

Santana looked at the slip of paper, along with his number was a small heart. And she began to wonder, did he want this too?

•••

Sebastian had waited for as long as he could before he called her. He knew that his two precious children were afraid of people, especially women that were around his age, like Danielle.

But it was on nights where he had both children sleeping on top of him, that he needed someone to talk to, because it meant that all three had been plagued by nightmares.

"What's up, McCarthy?" She had asked, and Sebastian's lips twitched upwards at the memories of the name.

"Hey, Tana." He greeted softly, he didn't want to wake up his children. "I just needed someone to talk to.."

Santana had instantly perked up, happy that she could help him. "Talk to me, Bassy." She told him. "What's up?"

Sebastian sighed as he looked down at his sleeping daughter. Ava had been Danielle's prime target after her birth, Sebastian believed it had to do with the public saying that Ava was more beautiful than the woman who had carried her. He agreed wholeheartedly, she was more beautiful on the inside and the outside.

"Nothing. I'm currently in bed with a two year old and a three and a half year old laying on top of me." He told her, then hesitated. "I missed you."

Santana had stayed quiet for a moment, and he knew she was smiling. "I love you too."

•••

It was a tiny wedding, with no press. The only people who were there were the bride, the groom, the groom's children (who doubled as flower girl and ring bearer), the family of the bride, an officiant, and some friends from high school.

But saying that it was a tiny wedding, didn't mean that Sebastian didn't spoil his baby girl with a beautiful peach dress with a crinoline skirt made from layers of peach tulle and a mint green sash. "I'll pay for it." He had told Santana. "Screw traditions." As they changed the wedding theme from purple and blue to peach and mint.

They had the wedding in under three thousand dollars. Santana's mother, Maribel made the one layer wedding cake. The flowers for the bouquets were from Sebastian's backyard. And they spent the rest on Santana's wedding gown, a slimming chiffon wedding dress. And when she walked down the aisle with a bouquet of peach irises, Sebastian couldn't hold back his smile.

•••

Santana had quickly learned that she married into a family with many sleepless nights. Ava always walked in first, her fresh tears cascading into her already wet cheeks as she curled up to Sebastian. Elliot would follow a few hours later, mumbling something about being cold as he wiped the tears from his nightmares off of his cheeks.

The king sized bed fit them all, and Santana never woke up cold. So who was she to complain?

•••

The press ate up everything they could about the Smythe family, anything they could find. Including a pregnancy announcement.

Sebastian, Ava, and Elliot did everything they could to help. Including painting the once pink bedroom white and yellow, per Santana's request.

Ava spent her own five dollars on a small turtle doll she named Greenie. "It's for my baby brother." She told them, and Sebastian had never been more proud.

Sadly, only a month later, newspapers and online articles changed their happy speculations about the new Smythe baby to articles that gave the Smythes their deepest condolences. Their newest son was stillborn.

Sebastian tried his hardest to give his family their well deserved privacy during their time of mourning. "We thank you all for your support and condolences during this hard time, we ask for some privacy." He had told the press, then walked back inside where he and his wife cried for the next hour.

Although most of the press respected the request, there were still pictures in the newspapers and online of the mourning family walking into a church for the funeral. Not that it surprised Sebastian at all.

"I told you not to marry her." Sebastian's father had told him over the phone. "She can't even carry children."

"Go to hell." Sebastian snapped back, then ended the call. He was too angry and upset to deal with his father.

But with every storm cloud, there is a silver lining. Sixteen months after the loss of their son, Olivia Constance Smythe was born by cesarean section after twenty hours of labor as she was too stubborn to be born naturally. She was their little blessing.

•••

"Please?" Santana had begged as she fed her newborn daughter. "I know you hate being a lawyer. Become a performer! It's what you truly want."

Sebastian sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He would never forget how natural it had felt to be on stage. "Are you sure?" He asked, the reached over and tangled his fingers in Olivia's soft black tufts of hair. "I do hate it, but it pays well."

Santana kissed him. "Do what makes you happy." She told him. "We can worry about money some other time. Your happiness is more important."

So Sebastian quit his job as a lawyer and began taking classes on how to be a performer.

•••

Sebastian picked up his little girl and spun her around. "Happy birthday, Olivia!" He told her, then began pressing kisses on her cheeks and forehead as she squealed.

They had decided to go out for her birthday. They went to the park, where Olivia constantly demanded her father to push her higher on the swing, even if Sebastian thought it was too high.

After a few hours, they crossed the street and walked into Lima Bean, where Sebastian, Santana, Elliot, and Ava all got frappuccinos. Olivia got a small dollop of whipped cream, despite Santana's protests. "C'mon, Tana." Sebastian had told her playfully. "It's her birthday."

Santana only rolled her eyes as they sat down at one of the booths. "You are hopeless, Smythe." She teased.

Sebastian smiled. "I'm hopeful, Mrs. Smythe." He had told her. "You gave me that hope."

"You two are silly." Ava giggled as she tried to keep her drink from her younger sister by handing her the small turtle doll that had been gifted to Olivia after the passing of their brother, which had kept its name as Greenie.

Sebastian smiled, then stood up and pulled out his phone and turned on the camera. "Of course we are." He said, then fit them all into the frame. "Say cheese!" He exclaimed, then snapped the picture.

He smiled as he looked at the picture. It wasn't perfect at all by the media's standards, but the lack of concealer, the messy hair, the genuine smiles, and the whipped cream around his baby's lips. It was perfect in his eyes. And hey, that's what mattered.

 _The End._

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 **So yeah, that's the end. I hope you all enjoyed! Please fave and review! I would love to know what you thought of it!**

 **Thanks for reading! Love y'all!**


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